


Steve-Tony Don’t-Rogers

by Thebookofavenging



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hurt Tony, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Not Iron Man 3 Compliant, Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship, Tony Being Tony, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, steve rogers - Freeform, tony and steve bickering, tony stark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-07 06:37:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12835425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thebookofavenging/pseuds/Thebookofavenging
Summary: Tony noticed that most of what steve says to him is “tony don’t” followed by whatever stupid thing he was going to attempt to do at the moment. And while he is a great listener, he is exceptional at acting like he never did.OrThe one where tony and steve are driving eachother crazy.





	1. Chapter 1

Steve was one of the guys that gave orders, tony knew this so he tried not to let it get to him. In fact he thinks he is getting pretty good at being lead by Captain america. The thing is sometimes tony just couldn’t help it, he needed to do his own thing. And Steve he was always telling him not to do it. Which ultimately had to result in fights and actually him getting a little bit crazy because, he really is trying to be good.   
So being here in a hospital bed, fighting with Steve because he wants to go home is truly stressing him out. Especially since he would really like to get out of here as soon as possible. Hospitals suck so no thank you!  
“Tony i said don’t get out of bed, you are not getting out of the hospital even if you prove to me that you can get out of the bed, okay?” Steve said in his captain america voice.  
Tony couldn’t help but laugh at Steve’s tone, more of a smirk really, because when he was younger when he really hated doing something that had to be done, his father would tell him that if captain america was here he would be disappointed at him. Apparently he wasn’t doing a better job today at not disappointing him either because again he is going to leave this hospital now.  
“Cap, listen i am fine, i really am. I need some rest and i can do that much better at home anyway.” Tony said.   
He had to admit that his ribs are sore, if only to himself. but he didn’t see why sore ribs would keep him in the hospital anyway. It is true that the arc reactor is kind of heavy and that accompanied by cracked ribs makes even breathing hurt! But hey, tony is not new to pain now, is he?  
“You are not fine tony, okay you cracked your ribs and your ankle is messed up, you really want to limp your way out of the hospital on that ankle?” Steve said, this time his arms were crossed as if to give himself more of a stern look. “As if he needed to!” Tony thought but didn’t dare comment on it, not when they were already fighting.  
“Cap, my ankle is merely a little swollen. I just jostled it a bit in the landing, ok? And my ribs are cracked not broken so that is fine nothing i can’t handle on my own” tony said in a bored tone.   
Tony was already sitting in bed but after saying this he moved to put his legs down with a wince. All the while Steve was repeatedly saying his name followed by don’t do this. Tony couldn’t help but drift back to his earlier thoughts. He was starting to believe that mostly everything Steve said to him was “tony don’t” followed by whatever stupid thing he was attempting to do at the time.   
“Stark, just stop.” Steve shouted this time.   
And for some reason, tony froze completely. And not just for a second it actually lasted embarrassingly and awkwardly long. By then tony was completely sitting on the bed like it was a couch, his feet were on the floor and his back was a little hunched just to ease the pain on his ribs. His hands were flat on the bed by his sides and when he froze his head wad tilted downwards. However now after his shock had passed he brought his eyes up to look at Steve.   
“Steve, listen to me, i hate hospitals okay? I can’t stay here and i won’t. Bruce is in the tower and he will know if something is wrong or if i need to come back here and yes before you argue with me, I know bruce is not that kind of doctor but I also know he will know what to do ok! He knows enough to know what I need. So you will either be okay with this or keep burning both our energies for something that isn’t going to happen. You decide” tony said and he knew Steve actually heard him this time. Because Steve’s eyes had turned gentle and his mouth was already doing a little smile.  
“Do you always have to win?” Steve said with a smile, resisting the urge to tell tony that he had super-solider energy and could do this all day. It just didn’t seem like this fight will get him anywhere anymore. And in all fairness, tony had a point, he is being overly worried. his frown was gone now and his arms were no longer crossed. And he made his peace that he will just have to worry and fuss about tony back at the tower.   
“I think,I, at least should win this fight, considering that I was used as a rag doll in the last one i had.” Tony said with a laugh and winced but immediately moved to get up before Steve can change his mind. Steve moved instantly to help tony.  
Tony proceeded to wave him off   
“I can do it, Cap.” Tony said leaning heavily on the bed   
“Tony, just don’t” Steve said with a hint of smile in his tone, and grabbed tony’s hand.  
Tony let him, this time he actually won’t. This is not a fight he actually wants to win.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony didn’t make it easy, none of it. He just wasn’t one of those people that just eases in and out and is  
a breeze. He is loud, stubborn and most of all he never listens, at least that is what Steve believes. However the truth was that Tony is a really good listener, but he is exceptional at acting like he never did. And Steve, well Steve just  
doesn’t get it.  
So after every single battle, they had to fight about how tony doesn’t listen. Then another about  
how tony is not listening in the fight that they are having about him not listening in the first place. It drives tony crazy  
but he doesn’t know how to tell Steve that he listens because if he did it will sound like “I listen Steve, I  
just don’t freaking care.” Which is not true, because tony does care, he cares very much what Steve  
thinks. And he respects Steve as a leader in the battles, It is just that tony sometimes sees what the others cannot see. It was another thing that he was exceptionally good at. Well mostly Jarvis does it for him and then informs him about it, but he created Jarvis so he will take the credit. The point is when tony sees what he see and knows what he knows, it becomes incredibly hard for him not to act as quickly as possible to fix the situation. And in the heat of the moment, he often doesn't inform his teammates except after he is already in the process of doing the stupid reckless hero thing. Which of course he did again in today's battle while Steve was screaming in his ears "tony what are you doing?! Tony just don't.". So when he ended up getting tossed by the bad guy into a construction area and having half of a building sitting on top of his chest because of it, he expected that Steve wouldn’t let it go. What he didn’t expect is that they would be sitting together in the car, on their way home from the hospital when the fighting starts. Needless to say the current state he was in which was in pain and miserable, made the likelihood of him winning this fight, unlikely.  
“I am not saying we didn’t win, I am not saying you didn’t do a good job in distracting that guy, I am just saying I don’t want you to do a good job if it means you might die in the process.” Steve said in that stern cold voice again  
but tony noted that his eyes were gentle  
Tony understood what Steve was saying, he really did. He remained silent though. First, because telling  
Steve he didn’t mind dying if it meant they were all safe would probably result in Steve becoming even  
more angry. Second, because he couldn't tell Captain America that he is being ridiculous, because tony knew he wasn't going to die when he did what he did. He went that close to the evil guy so he would be able to distract him long enough for the team to win. It was a well thought out move that he knew exactly what the outcome of was and which he had all the numbers and statistics for. He even managed to make Jarvis buy that half built building before he crashed into it. But telling Steve that would make him yell again and tell him that if he made time to do all that he had time to inform the team, and in all fairness he would have a point. Third , because talking would require him to move his mouth and that required oxygen, and between the pain in his ribs and the arc reactor, he really didn’t want to lose the little oxygen he is  
managing to get inside him. Steve kept looking at him for a while waiting for an answer but then he  
seemed to resign to the fact the he was getting none. Steve felt that was fair, because he was actually guilty he brought it up right now, tony looked tired and in pain and not in the mood to have this conversation. So the rest of the way, they were both awfully silent. Steve at some point literally wanted to shake tony just to make sure he was alive, because he wasn't used to seeing him like this. However when the car stopped and tony made no move to get out of it, Steve felt his whole body go cold.  
"Tony, are you okay?" Steve said slowly in a concerned voice  
"I am fine." Tony said  
"well then why aren't you getting out of the car." Steve said  
"I will, just give me a minute." Tony said and Steve noted that he was a little breathless and his eyes were squinting like he was in pain. Which was the truth, Tony was literally on the verge of asking Steve to just let him sleep here in the car, if that wasn't really pathetic he would have done it already. For some reason( which he suspects is the adrenaline of fighting with Steve in the hospital running out) his body was aching all over, and his ankle throbbed with pain, however the worst part was his chest because his chest just felt like fire eating at the arc-reactor and making it feel 10 times worse than it does on normal days which is pretty awful to begin with. So when the car stopped and he thought that he will not only have to get out but also walk to get in the tower, he suspected he should have let Steve won their earlier fight.  
"Tony, are you sure you are okay?" Steve said snapping Tony out of his thoughts  
Tony didn't answer him, because he wasn't sure what he was going to say.  
"Are you in pain, do you feel like you want to go back to the hospital instead?" Steve said  
And Tony wanted to tell him the suggestion was stupid, because he would also have to walk to get to inside the hospital, but then he remembered the beautiful wheelchair, and god did he really just think of a wheelchair as a blessing. No just no. he took a semi deep breath and said "no Steve I am okay, let's go" and as soon as he said it, he insisted that he was going to get out of this car in the next 5 seconds. Steve was somehow opening the door for him in a fraction of that and when it was open enough for him to lower his legs, he rotated in his seat with a considerable amount of pain. Grunting all the way till his legs touched the floor ( well the healthy one, the other one he subtly didn’t put any weight on) and then Steve was offering his hand which he refused in an act of stubbornness. Then Steve actually gave him his space, like he refused the hand and Steve backed away and everything and tony was so regretting this because now he had to use the door frame to lever himself up and as soon as he did that, the door didn’t really stay in place and he stumbled and landed on his stupid messed up leg and then it was on fire and his chest was on fire and his knees gave out and god he really didn't want to fall in front of Steve because he refused his freaking help but then just as quickly Steve caught him, grabbing his right arm and putting his arm around his waist. After that they just stilled, Steve was practically carrying more than half of Tony's weight and Tony was barely able to breathe. They remained like this, tony leaning on the car by one side and the other side leaning on Steve and he focused on breathing and easing the pain and Steve focused on Tony. After tony felt marginally better he said " are we going to have another fight about how I should learn to accept help ?" tony joked but he was actually scared that his lecture will now be doubled.  
"I think we just had, tony." Steve said with smirk  
"so what, you were teaching me a lesson or something." tony said  
"do you want us to have another fight, really?" Steve said  
"No I guess not" tony said then he made a move to ease his weight off of Steve just for the sake of it.  
"are you serious right now?" Steve said but then as soon as he looked a tony and saw the mischievous smile playing on his face he knew that Tony was just messing with him. Steve was tempted to mess with him right back but he decided against it when Tony started leaning on him even more and he knew that it meant Tony was losing the little energy he had. So he tightened his grip on Tony instead and started moving slowly towards the doors of the tower.  
"do you want to go straight to your room?" Steve said.  
"actually I need to see the suit, if you could just take me to the lab?" tony said and as soon as the word "lab" was out of his mouth Steve stopped in his tracks.  
"you promised me that you will rest as soon as we go back to the tower." Steve said and he sounded like he was running out of patience which made Tony feel like he was being a burden for some reason and he instantly wanted to get out of Steve's grip . And while Steve was looking at him like he was an idiot, he managed to do just that by instantly standing up straighter and hopping on one leg till he was standing on his own facing Steve.  
"I told you not to do that" Steve said  
"no you didn't, you taught me a lesson." Tony said  
"which apparently you didn't quite learn, you are tired Tony and you said you were going to rest if I brought you back to the tower." Steve said in his cold voice  
" and I will, look Cap I will have finished the repairs with the suit by the time the rest of the team comes back from dealing with the after-math with the battle and the debrief with Fury which by the way you should be heading to the conference room now for anyway." Tony said  
"don't deflect the situation, the doctor said that even though your ribs are only cracked, the reactor makes it worse so you shouldn't move a lot or they won't get better. Steve said  
And as soon as Steve mentioned the reactor Tony stopped listening because he was still not used to the fact that Steve knows or that anyone other than Pepper and Rhodey know. He regained his composure quickly though. But because it took him a second Steve assumed Tony wasn't going to answer. 

"Tony don't do this come one just go to bed, you can fix the suit when you are feeling better" Steve said but for some reason Tony found himself really angry at him all of a sudden and he wanted to get out of there as soon as he could, so he turned around, limped his way to the elevator and while doing that he heard Steve huff angrily behind him and he knew that he was being childish and all but he just wanted to get to his lab and tinker with his suit until he understood why he is this angry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do you guys think Tony got really angry at the end, tell me your theories!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know this might be incredibly cheesy but yeah hope you like it anyway.

When tony finally got to his lab and threw himself into the nearest chair, he wished he wasn't as stubborn as he was because it was really really painful to storm out of a room when you have cracked ribs and can barely walk. He did his best to catch his breath without aggravating his already sore ribs and tried to calm himself down. He didn't expect that he would ever turn his back to Captain America but he really couldn't control himself when Steve mentioned the Arc-Reactor and wanted to force him to rest because of injuries that were that mild. It made him feel like Steve saw him a lot weaker than he was or something and he hated that. He wanted Steve to treat him with confidence in his strength and ability he was not a wilting flower, he was Tony Stark and while his name was often attributed with genius, he wanted Steve to attribute him with strength too because he was not just a man in a suit. So when Steve got all worried because he had cracked ribs when he didn't even flinch last mission when Clint suffered a concussion, it sucked. He started working on his gauntlet to distract himself, but still he half expected Steve to show up and lecture him on everything. And no he was not disappointed when Steve didn't even bother to check on him, not at all. He finished working on his gauntlet just by the time Bruce came down to his lab to drag him upstairs so they could all eat together. He was kind of anxious to see Steve but then decided that it was actually a good chance for him to act like what happened this morning never happened. So Tony stood up straighter than he would have preferred and tried his hardest not to limp (which he wasn't successful at doing) then he walked behind Bruce to the kitchen where everybody was already sitting waiting for them.   
"there you are, how are you doing?" Clint said.   
"I am doing great." Tony replied highly aware that Steve was not even looking at him at all. In fact during the period of dinner, Tony noticed that Steve was doing his best not to make eye contact with Tony at all which actually made Tony more uncomfortable. He did not want Captain America to be angry at him and he suspected that after what he did this Afternoon Steve was probably furious. After they finished dinner Tony decided to approach Steve and apologize and just get it over with.  
"hey Steve can I speak with you in private for a second." Tony told Steve who was fumbling and looking at the floor more than anything else. Steve nodded and then started moving and tony followed not really knowing where Steve was going. It turns out Steve was heading to the nearest room they could be alone in which was the conference room. Tony took the chance and asked "oh by the way how did the debriefing go?" even though he couldn't care les but he felt like it would be a good opening to a conversation since Steve hasn't said a word up until now. "it was fine, Fury just wanted to know what happened today, I barely talked with him actually because I was late." Steve answered then looked at tony for the first time which made Tony feel better.   
"listen Steve, I am sorry for earlier, really. I just really wanted to get fixing the suit over with. I was a little angry because of how the day went and frankly tired of fighting so I just walked away. Again didn't mean to be such an asshole." Tony said and he tried to sound as sincere as he could.   
"listen I was really angry at first and I was trying not to be, because you were injured today and tired and all of that. So well at the end I calmed down. It just so frustrating how you are so stubborn and careless." Steve said and frankly that made Tony angry again because really Captain that is how you respond to any apology but he decided that he wanted to get it over with.   
"well yeah so sorry and just I am fine really you don't need to worry about me." Tony said and then again moved to walk away from Steve because he felt the conversation was over. He didn't realize how tired he was until it was over with Steve and as soon as he rotated his body so he could leave the room, His whole body seemed really heavy and because he completely forgot about his pain meds, his ankle and chest felt like they were on fire. He really couldn't move and he grabbed the back of the chair next to him and wrapped his arm around his torso and just tried to breathe. All the while Steve was calling his name.   
"Steve, it is fine." he all but gasped the words to make Steve stop because it was probably fine. His vision tunneled and when he came back to his senses, all of a sudden he was sitting in the chair with Steve on his knees in front of him. Steve noticed when Tony looked at him and asked "should I get Bruce?" he all but whispered.   
Tony took a deep breath -which was not that deep considering- and said "no Steve, I am fine really, its probably normal for that to happen when you are not breathing at your full capacity." which he knew more than anyone because of the Arc-Reactor so who we wasn't lying it was just that now its worse because of the stupid ribs and his stupid brain.   
"did you take your meds?" Steve asked and tony wanted to lie because he was going to take them, he really was going to take them but he thought he would do it after he was finished at the lab so his brain wasn't muffled while fixing the suit but then he just forgot about them and he was living the consequences now.   
"no, I thought I would take them before bed." Tony said and he considered it only a half lie because he was going to take them as soon as his legs could carry him.   
"you see well, you are supposed to take them every six hours tony not 24 and not never." Steve said and huffed a breath   
And tony thought they were going to go back to fighting and he just made this better again and now he was angry, really really angry because Steve was being that person who thinks Tony is a total idiot again and he suddenly thought screw it and felt more energy than he had all day to just tell Steve to shut up.   
"I hate it, Steve. I hate the way you treat me like I am the weakest link in this team, or that I am some kind of an invalid person. Do you know anything about me, do know what I have been through Steve. Did you read anything about me? I Mean sometimes I look at you and I only see that person who is looking down on me. And I am sure you do it with love not hate and I can't tell you how happy I am that you and I became friends and family for each-other. But that thing you do where you look at me like I am going to break all the time is driving me insane. I know I am just a man in a suit, but do you know how much that suit weigh? Do you know how much the arc-reactor actually hurts? Do you know that I woke up in a cave hooked up to a car battery? Do you know how trivial it is for me that I have a couple of cracked ribs and a sprained ankle. My body is made of bruises and scars and pain. I cracked my ribs like 20 times since I started becoming iron man , aside from breaking them and suffering other painful dreadful injuries, not to mention all the other physical and emotional trauma that I have been through. So looking at me like I might keel over and die every second is a little condescending and insulting, if I might say so." tony said, and oh god did he just say all of this, and did he just call captain America condescending. This is bad, this is truly the worst thing that he ever did, ever. And more than that he used Steve's first name he never used Steve's first name, he noticed a while ago that Steve really listens when someone calls him Steve, like really really listens. So he decided that he would only call Steve by his first name when it truly mattered, not like when he was babbling and stuff no, only when he truly needed Steve to hear him. that is why he always call him Cap or rogers, even after they have become closer together. He could tell that Steve got frustrated by this but he always acted like he doesn't notice. Because apparently Steve doesn't know he does it and he wasn't about to point it out. So yeah in the real world it was always Cap or Rogers but in his head he was just Steve. Of-course now that he used Steve while talking with him, he is pretty sure Steve heard every word with 100 percent attention. And god he was truly regretting it, he doesn't even know how he had said all those things. It was no unlike him. And why was he all of a sudden talking as if he is like super strong and a hero and all of that. It is not like he ever thought that, in fact most of the time he think he deserves how the team looks at him. how they think he is the weakest or the most vulnerable. He has a time bomb in his chest for gods sake. Like If someone decided to kill him all they had to do was just get him alone without the suit and Bam take out the arc reactor and he will slowly and painfully die. So why was he all of a sudden acting like he is invincible or something. Why was he telling Steve all of those things. Steve looked like somebody just punched him in the gut. And ton wanted to apologize, he wanted to tell him to forget it and he wanted to go to his room and sleep for the next 24hours but before he could do any of that Steve spoke.   
"what are you talking about? I never think of you as weak why the hell would you even think so? " and tony thought that the damage was done already so they better finish it now.   
"most of what you tell me is tony don't do that or this and hello I am the genius here and second every time I get hurt you act like I am about to die but when Clint was injured last mission you didn't do that with him so it is pretty clear what you think of me." Tony said   
"well for a genius Tony that is a pretty stupid interpretation of what I am doing. Clint has Natasha to worry about him, when he is injured she hovers over him and Clint actually takes his time when he is injured. He doesn't break his arm and then continue the battle moving just one arm." Steve said and he was smiling now as if he realized how much Tony is being an idiot   
"hey no fair, that only happened once." Tony said but he actually thought it was kind of fair because really that was super stupid of him at the time. Steve had every right to tell him not to do that ever again.   
"okay the fact that it happened at all entitles me to be a little bit more worried about you than the other. The others may be stubborn at all but they at least know when to stop. You just don't have boundaries and I tell you not to do stuff because while you may be a genius, the things you do to yourself are incredibly stupid and I am allowed to worry about my friends." Steve said  
"Steve I appreciate the thought, really. But trust me I have been taking care of myself along time and I have survived a lot of things that are way worse than stupidity. You have to trust me." tony said and he was softening now that he was sure Steve was coming completely from a place of love but still he wanted to prove he could take care of himself.   
"No you haven't been taking care of yourself, you have been surviving things. You are in a constant state of survival and sure that is really good that you are able to do that. But it is okay if you now have people who take care of you and want you to take only the necessary risks because after all you are an avenger so you will have to take risks. And I completely appreciate you strength Tony. The fact that you are that Strong is what makes me worry about you. You don't need to be strong all the time, sometimes you can actually just lean on others a little." Steve said and he looked very genuine when he did and had that very kind smile on his face.   
Tony was actually considering what Steve was saying and while he didn't want to admit, he was actually incredibly touched and grateful by Steve's words.   
"listen Tony, it would be great if you listened to me more and just took care of yourself a little bit more. But honestly I don't expect you to. That is why I am asking you to at least let me try and be there for you even if you think you don't need it." Steve then added   
"thank you, Steve." Tony said because really he couldn't trust his voice to say anything else without breaking. He smiled genuinely at Steve when he said but he was sure Steve caught the tears glistening in his eyes. Steve smiled back and extended his hands to tony to help him up.   
"come on Tony let's get you to bed now." Steve said   
"well actually I have to go back to the lab." Tony teased   
"toooooooony." Steve said in a pleading tone. Which made Tony huff out a laugh  
"alright, I won't, I won't. I am just messing with you cap." Tony said   
Tony took Steve's hands and they both walked out of that room smiling, both having a totally new view of each other.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so please if you like it leave a comment or press Kudos. And if you feel something could be better please tell me. 
> 
> The next chapter will be dealing more with tony getting better and will have more hurt and comfort. And of-course more of steve and tony bickering. Well it will mostly be steve and tony bickering.


End file.
